The White House is “fully confident” that senators will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh following Thursday’s delivery of the FBI’s supplemental background investigation into sexual misconduct claims made against the Supreme Court nominee, a spokesman said.
Deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement that senators have been given “ample time” to read Kavanaugh’s “seventh background investigation,” despite protests from Democrats over a plan to allow members to trade off just one copy of the report between parties every hour.
{mosads}”This is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents,” Shaw said.
“[T]he White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced early Thursday that the the panel had received a copy of the report, and would allow “equal” access to the document.
Kavanaugh’s nomination is expected to be taken up by the full Senate this week, though several key senators have refused to say how they will vote. He is accused by three women of sexually assaulting them during his high school and college years, accusations he has forcefully denied.
Democrats, who are in the minority in the Senate, will need two Republicans to flip “no” to sink Kavanaugh’s nomination if every Democrat votes against him.
Senators, including Grassley, have indicated that the new FBI report will not be made public, adding that senators who do not wish to read the report in full can be briefed by one of nine staff members with access to the document.
“None of that stuff’s public,” Grassley told reporters on Wednesday. “If you want people to be candid when they talk to the FBI, you ain’t going to make that public.”